Syntax Acquisition: Impact of Experimental Variation in Adult Verbal Interaction with the Child

Nelson, Keith E.; Carskaddon, Gaye; Bonvillian, John D.

doi:10.2307/1128005

Cited by 186 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Recasts seem to play a role in helping children to identify and extract specific grammatical morphemes (Farrar, 1990;Peters, 1983) and to acquire yes-no questions, copula and auxiliary verbs (Richards, 1990a(Richards, , 1990bRichards & Robinson, 1993), and syntactic structures in general (Nelson 1977a(Nelson , 1977b(Nelson , 1987Nelson, Carskaddon, & Bonvillian, 1973). It has also been found that language-impaired children benefit from recasts (Conti-Ramsden, 1990).…”

Section: Conversationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Negative and Positive Feedback in the Second Language Acquisition of the Passé Composé and Imparfait

Ayoun

2001

The Modern Language Journal

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This study tests the effectiveness of written recasts versus models in the acquisition of the aspectual distinction between two past tenses in French, the passé composé and the imparfait with a pretest, repeated exposure, and posttest design. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: R (recasting: implicit negative feedback), M (modeling: pre-emptive positive evidence), and G (grammar: explicit positive evidence and negative feedback). The M and R groups read a different story with illustrations each week: (a) In the M condition, participants were shown a sentence corresponding to the illustration for 3 seconds, then were asked to answer a related question; (b) in the R condition, participants formed a sentence with given elements based on the illustration, then were exposed to the correct answer for 3 seconds; (c) the G group read traditional grammar lessons, took a short practice, and were presented with the answer key. Posttest results reveal that the R group performed significantly better than the G group but not the M group, partially supporting the hypothesis that recasting is the most effective form of feedback.

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Section: Conversationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Negative and Positive Feedback in the Second Language Acquisition of the Passé Composé and Imparfait

Ayoun

2001

The Modern Language Journal

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“…Experimental tests of different types of adult-child interactions are necessary in order to clarify the influence of maternal speech on children's subsequent language growth. The strategy of using experimental manipulations to tease out specific effects of maternal input components has been employed by Nelson and his colleagues (Nelson 1977, Nelson, Carskaddon & Bonvillian 1973, Nelson & Denninger 1977. These researchers have focused especially on increasing the frequency of naturally occurring maternal recasts and examining the effects of this increased frequency on the child's subsequent language growth.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Recasting and related conversational techniques for triggering syntactic advances by young children

1984

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In 'recast' replies in conversation a first utterance is recast or redisplayed in a changed sentence structure that still refers to the central meanings of the first sentence. Two intervention studies were conducted to explore the effects of recasting on children's language acquisition. The two subjects in Study One were ages 3;5 and 3;10 with MLUs of 4.81 and 4.23. The six subjects in Study Two ranged in age from 2;6 to 3;2 with MLUs of 3.07 to 4.17. Syntactic forms targeted for input intervention using recasts and related replies were the passive transformation, relative clauses, and non-used auxiliaries. All but one child acquired use of at least two targeted forms, with some producing more. In addition, the children used the passive with complexity and semantic variability comparable to passive use by children much older than themselves. It is argued that recasting is one powerful conversational means for enhancing the young child's attention to and analysis of to-be-acquired syntactic structures. Moreover, it is concluded that most 3 1 / 2 -to 4-year-olds may be cognitively ready to acquire passives and many other complex structures, but that success in analysing and producing these structures hinges upon the availability in input of at least a small number of the target forms embedded in salient ways (e.g., as recasts) in discourse.For years researchers have studied the question of how the young child masters the language(s) they hear. One way that researchers have opted to answer this question has been to study the language environment that surrounds the child. Most of the information on maternal speech, or motherese, is descriptive in nature. The basic methodology of this type of research has been to audio-tape a mother and her child in a free play or * Smcere thanks for assistance to Lisa Hemlick and Joy Creeger.

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“…A similar experiment of Nelson et al (1973) gave clearer results. The expansion group was significantly better than the extension and the control group with respect to verb phrase complexity.…”

Section: Modellingmentioning

confidence: 60%

Interactional conditions of syntax acquisition: A review

Strohner

Weingarten

Becker³

1982

Instr Sci

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This paper reviews how and why children's acquisition of syntactic structures is influenced by verbal communication with adults. It argues that those interactions involve cooperative problem-solving and can be interpreted within interactionist theory. It surveys several ways in which adults model a child's syntactic structure to convey the child's intended meaning. These are: expansion; extension; modelling without prior child utterance; and modelling after metalinguistic interruption of the conversation.

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Syntax Acquisition: Impact of Experimental Variation in Adult Verbal Interaction with the Child

Cited by 186 publications

References 4 publications

The Role of Negative and Positive Feedback in the Second Language Acquisition of the Passé Composé and Imparfait

The Role of Negative and Positive Feedback in the Second Language Acquisition of the Passé Composé and Imparfait

Recasting and related conversational techniques for triggering syntactic advances by young children

Interactional conditions of syntax acquisition: A review

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